The present invention is related to blister-pack type medication packages. More particularly, this invention concerns a tripartite, credit card-sized blister-pack medication package.
Many medications must be taken over a number of days for their effective administration. This has created the need for medication packages which provide a means for the patient to easily follow the dosage regimen from day to day to ensure patient compliance.
Typical of such drugs are the so-called birth control pills which are taken over a period of days corresponding to a woman's menstrual cycle or antiinflammatory drugs for the treatment of arthritis and similar ailments. Various packages have been proposed to meet this need, ranging in design from purse compact-type packages to so-called "blister-pack"-type packages.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,429,792 discloses a medication-dispensing card having a plurality of sealed compartments for holding single doses of medication. The card is so adapted as to permit the recovery of unused medication in the sealed compartments without breaking the seal of individual compartments to permit reuse in an institutional setting.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,534,468 discloses a two-part blister-pack medication package having a clear sheet with a plurality of pill-containing pockets and a frangible backing sheet. The backing sheet is further marked with calendar indicia.
British Patent Specification No. 1,271,939 discloses medication package comprising a folding, coated paperboard structure which encloses and sandwiches a blister-pack of clear plastic and foil backing.
Numerous box-type pill dispensing packages having daily unit doses of drugs are pictured in the "Product Identification" section of the Physician's Desk Reference, Medical Economics Company, Inc., Oradell, N.J. 07649. (See for example the 41st Edition (1987) at pages 404, 405, 412, 416, 417, 419, 420, 421, 429, 432, 433, 436, and 437.)
When the medication comprises birth control pills, the patient audience comprises women who find box-type pill dispensing packages often of a size which is inconvenient to carry in a purse.
On the other hand, many of the individual flat blister-pack packages are of a construction which does not stand up well over the period of time during which the medication must be used. If the package materials and/or design are not sufficiently rigid, the package often becomes frayed or crumpled during its use. This is especially true as successive pill or tablet chambers are emptied and the mechanical strength of the package as a whole deteriorates.
Often, both types of packaging are of sufficiently complicated construction as to add to the costs and complexities of manufacture. There is thus a need for a small and sturdy blister-pack medication package which is convenient to carry and is of simple manufacture.